Prudent Panda

It once was a spider hotel...

2012-02-11T03:40:00.001-08:00

When I moved in to my apartment last January ( I just signed up for 18 more months of fun here) I noticed the basement had a ...surfeit of furniture. I asked my landlord about it and he said it belonged to whomever had moved out before and it just got shoved down there. To me, that means : may as well belong to Megan. I told him last spring that I wanted a 2 drawer chest under the stairs. Ever since then I have had vague plans for it in the back of my mind but I could not commit to a color or a place. I finally decided that last weekend was going to be it's moment to shine. I had planned on painting it white and using it to hold my printer. When I went to the store though I fell in love with a yellow paint and it became clear to me that it should take up residence outside my bathroom door.

Let's get one thing straight: I don't sand. I will sand if a surface needs to be smoothed out but I don't do it on principle. From my research and personal experience it is not always necessary as long as you prime. It can be a big time suck and depending on the age of the piece can kick up lead paint and toxic bits from old varnish.

I started with pulling this piece out from under the stairs. I had to claw through years of cobwebs to get to it and when I opened the drawers they were full of live and dead spiders as well as eggs. Undeterred, I killed what was alive, swept the egg sacks outside the basement window ( good luck surviving in February!) and wiped the chest off. In my zeal to get started I failed to get a good before shot

After it was cleaned I sprayed it down with a light coat of Kilz odorless primer. I experimented with how much is needed. I used a very light coat because I really just wanted to create a buffer between the paint and the piece. I think I would change up how much I used depending which material needs to be covered, which color I was using and which color is currently on the item.

Once I pulled the chest out I discovered that it was just put-together stuff. Very 90s looking. Still, I had a use for it and wanted to see if you could change a cheap and dated item most people would throw away into something useful.

I pulled everything apart and primed the drawers and body.

I then added two coats of semi-gloss paint. I used Glidden's " Early Morning Sun". I hate brush strokes and found the best way to get the paint on is to use a small foam roller and then a small foam brush for the detail work.

While that was drying I got to work on the drawer pulls.

I knew all along I wanted oil rubbed bronze but was not willing to pay $8 or more for drawer pulls. So, I found a shape I liked and then bought them in a cheap finish. I sprayed them with two coats of Rustolium's "oil rubbed bronze".

After 8 hours of dry time I put it together and brought my new friend upstairs! It sits between my kitchen and bathroom and serves a function for both rooms. I love it!

Pin It

An overhaul

2012-02-11T03:28:00.000-08:00

Things have changed around here. This started 3.5 years ago as a chronicle of what I have been up to since I left central IL. In the past year I have been mostly posting about my house and I feel like the old stuff is too personal. Things are very happy and good now and I don't want the old stuff still showing when all I want to do is talk about painting furniture and thrift stores. I printed out a few important posts and archived over three years worth of entries. It's time for a new Prudent Panda!

-Megan
HPIC ( Head Panda in Charge)

Lamp Make Over

2012-01-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

I was browsing Pinterest not too long ago and saw a blog post from a clever person who painted an ugly brass lamp. When I was at the St Vincent De Paul by my house the other day I happened upon a large selection of brass lamps for $3.00 each. I started grabbing a bunch and then says to myself I says " Megan, you don't even know if you will like this. Just get one to start". So, for once I headed my own advice and only bought one. I wish I had bought 2 because this lamp turned out so well. I could BS a little and say it was only $3.00 like a lot of blogs do but really there are costs involved. I had to buy Rustolium's oil rubbed bronze paint, some masking tape and a lamp shade.

The lamp shade was a stroke of luck. I found it on sale for $11 when I was not even looking for one ( Target and WalMart are a good source. if you are willing to pick through all the pleated shades). It's a perfect beige linen that goes really well in my living room.

Before: Sad looking, out-dated brass

To prep it for painting was super easy. I just wiped it down with a baby wipe and let it dry. I then wrapped the socket with masking tape. I coiled the cord up in a plastic bag and tied it off. The part that was sticking out was taped off too.

Ready for our field trip to the basement.

My paint choice: $8. I used about half the can.

I placed it on an old plastic table in the basement and got started. I found the best way to paint it to be patient ( this does not come easily to me). Shake the can well, and when you first start spraying point away from the object the first two seconds or so because it can splutter and not mist evenly. Then, hold the can about 12 inches away from the object and spray up and down in a continuous motion. Don't stay in one place. Move all around going up and down then switch and go in a sweeping, back and forth motion. Leave it alone to dry for about an hour and come back and do a second coat, paying attention to any crevices. Let dry for another hour. That's it. This whole thing took about 20 minutes of my time and cost about $17.00.

Close up of the paint color. A deep, gold flecked bronze

After, set up in my living room and looking awesome

I will for sure be making another for the other side of my couch. I also have a cut crystal lamp to revamp for my bedroom.

Earthy Panda

2011-12-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

For almost 13 years now I have only bought cosmetics from companies that do not test on animals. I used to be just as strict on my cleaning supplies but I have been slacking and just grabbing stuff at Target. When I was at Target the other day I picked out a sweater but noticed it contained rabbit hair. I was very disgusted and put it back. I noticed, however that the Tide in my cart probably hurt the bunnies just as much. I use a vinegar spray to clean surfaces and 7th generation dish soap but have not been able to give up Tide. So the interest of not being a total hypocrite I decided to make something I had seen on pinterest: laundry detergent

It took me about 5 minutes and 3 ingredients to make.

Large box of baking soda ( from the cleaning aisle)
box of borax
one bar of Fels Naptha Soap grated

Mix up and decant into something cuter and smaller.

The internet claims you only need one tablespoon per load. I was highly skeptical of not only the measurement but of the cleaning ability. Also, I like my laundry to smell very detergent-y.

I decided to test it on my work scrubs. These often stink and get dirty and would be the biggest challenge to clean. Also, I wear whites to work so they need a little boost in that department.

I decided to do 2 tablespoons just because.

I have to say, this stuff smells pretty good. It's not overpowering but it's strong.

Also, it works and it works well. My work stuff was clean and smelled good. It got out a mysterious spot of blood on my scrub shirt and my pants looked white. I am pretty happy with it. The batch I made it about a year's supply.

Is there a cost savings? I did not think there would be. I did it at first just to be a little more bunny-friendly and earthy. When I look back at quicken entries for the past year though I spent about $75 on detergent and softener. This cost me $9 for the whole thing. So I would say that is a pretty good chunk saved.

It's Christmas Time in Bevo Mills!

2011-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

For the first time since 2006, I decorated for Christmas! This year has gone so amazingly well I really felt like celebrating for the first time in a long time. My one damper right now is missing Sam. I miss my little man and I'm sure Izzy does too. I know another bunny will be joining our family at some point in the near future. Thanks to thrift store I have found lots of vintagey Christmas decorations in the past year and had a lot of fun putting them up.

My let down was my tree. There is no room in here for a big tree so last year I bought a 4 foot tree at Kohl's after Christmas sale. I was expecting something a little fuller. I essentially have a Charlie Brown tree.

Ya know what though? I like it. I think it's cute, it makes the room look cozy and I only have a few of my ornaments here anyway.

I made a lot of ornaments for the tree this year. I dried orange slices and decorated the tree and a pewter candle holder with them

I tore pages out of ratty old copies of some of my favorite books, curled the strips and put them in a glass ball. I love the effect and will make a few more next year

I stuffed the underside of the tree with misc items

basket full of Christmas Books.

cookies and candy canes for Santa!

I found this tray for $1 last year and never found a useful application for it till now. I enjoy it though and will find something for it to do after Christmas

I am totally in love with my giant, 60s ceramic santa and the obnoxiously loud snow man

Countdown to Christmas!

I have to work Christmas eve but I have Christmas day off and I am very excited to spend it with my boyfriend and Izzy cat

What would you save?

2011-09-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

I saw this website on Fark.com in the wee hours of this morning. So it kind of made me think. What would I take? I have lived through a fire before but could not save anything. This time it would be my ( hopefully theoretical) house. As it turns out it took me about two seconds to decide what I would take. 5 minutes is a lot of time. But I would need less than a minute. Here is my round up:

Izzy is the most important thing in this entire house. My house is not a home without her and I would do anything to save her. Once she was gathered up I would take:

The hat box from my window sill. It has the entire history of my life in it. My birth certificate, dad's obituary, tags from Charlie and Traveler ( childhood pets), cards, letters and pictures from my 5 year relationship. It also has the only picture I have of my grandmother and her little address book from the 20s as well as my rabbit's ashes.

The picture of my niece that hangs on my bedroom wall

my glasses

my purse so I could have my keys, wallet ( containing debit and credit cards) and phone charger.

If I had some extra time I would grab my stuffed sea turtle, Stampy and my magnet collection from my fridge. It would break my heart to lose my thrifted vintage stuff ( like my set of 1940s china) but that is what ebay and insurance is for. Things are just things. What would you save?

I am now 31.

2011-07-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

I turned 31 two weeks ago. It actually does not feel too bad. I stepped up the anti-aging skin care routine but other than that I don't feel old. I do notice now when I put on eyeliner I have to sort of smooth my lids out. My mom has crepe-y lids. I see a visit to the plastic surgeon in my future.

We did out annual summer visit to Nashville on the 16th. The day that we arrived the most marvelous thing happened! Harry Potter 7 (part II) came to theaters. We kicked off the night by going to a pub and doing HP trivia. We then went to the theater and we had to wait in line for 3 hours. The outside of the theater was just mobbed. It was worth it though. Not only was it the best movie of the franchise it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. When Snape died tears were just pouring down my face. Mar even passed me a tissue. I had to sit next to Clint though who, while mostly quiet had a few comments and snorts here and there, but he mostly behaved.

Another fun activity? We FINALLY got to see the inside of the Parthenon! It's always been closed when we have gone before. Join me on our fun day.

First, we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant. It's tradition that we eat here and fill our gullets with as much sweet tea and biscuits as possible.

Then, being troopers that we are we braved the heat and went to Centennial Park to see Athena in all her glory.

Getting closer...

Oh Em Gee! There she is! I sat and admired her for a while then got too hot and wandered off to find the others. The main chamber is not air conditioned and well, once I saw her I had seen her and there was no sense in wilting away on a bench.

My collective posed for a picture.

We then retired to Pheasant Run for a spinet party. Two summers ago Clint was fixated on playing the Golden Girls theme. This year? The theme to Dynasty. It was marvelous.

Saturday morning was spent reading

I then dressed

And we went off to some local pizza place that has great pizza and shitty sweet tea. I got in my requisite thrift trip and found a VCR ( well, clint found it). I really wanted a VCR for some reason. The drive home was fine and I was very happy to be back in St Louis and get a cool one hour of sleep before going to work for 8 hours

Samoa Augustus O'Laughlin

2011-07-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

I have been criticized by a certain reader ( named Marlo) for not mentioning Sam's death. It's not that Sam is not important to me. In fact, he was so important that writing about his death is very painful but my little man deserves his own post. He became very ill in May and after a few days of pain meds, force feedings and no sleep I had to concede defeat. Our last morning together I sat on the couch holding him and Izzy climbed in my lap and nuzzled him for a few seconds. She then slowly reached over and started chewing on his arm. My cat is a bitch. So that ended our family moment as I rescued him from his sister. Clint, Marlo and I took him to the vet and after he was sedated Marlo joined me in the room.

In true Sam style did not go easy. He.Would.Not.Die. The Dr finally gave him enough to kill a 30lb dog and delivered it directly to his heart. It still took a few min after that. I left him there to be cremated. I did not go home for a few days and when I did it was sad and quiet here.

My house is totally different without Sam. It's been two months but all his pictures are still up.

His bunny house still sits in the corner like Tiny Tim's crutch. Reminding me there is no longer a bunny to play in there.

Every so often I look up and wonder why it's so quiet and what he is getting into. Last night I was chopping carrots and scooped up the ends, I turned to the middle room intending to give them to Sam. I was very sad to throw them out. Izzy seems lonely but it's hard to tell with her. I am gone a lot and feel bad that she alone. I don't want another cat though. I have too much going on right now to take on something else to take care of. I also had to throw his cage out since Izzy peed in it a few hours after he died. I have no idea why. She has never gone outside her litter box and has not since.

The shelters here are over run with rabbits so I decided my Christmas gift to myself would be a boy and girl pair. I have their names picked out ( Piper and Basil) and am excited to bring them home in a few months time. For now, let's all admire Sam and what he used to be: A jive ass turkey, handsome black man, sassy baskets adorable bunny

A very prudent week.

2011-07-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

July is shaping up pretty nicely. We are headed to Nashville this week for a couple of days and my birthday gifts (to me) have been rolling in. I finally bought myself an iphone. I need one for school but it really is superfuckingawesome even if you dismiss the handy school apps. I can now lounge around on the train watching Netflix or Hulu while texting and playing on facebook. It has replaced my laptop/camera/ipod and previous cell in one handy device. If it were a person, I would fuck it.

K, so I have continued working on my house and it's going slow. I went furniture shopping this week and found dick. I really need a TV table and desk. It has to be just right though. I am hoping I can get out this week and see if I can find something acceptable. My big news is that I finally made curtains for my back door!

How cute are they?? See those rings? They are normally kind of expensive but I found a pack at a thrift store for $1.35

So then when I was at the St. Vincent I came across a set of Harry Potter hard back books. So new I doubt they had ever even been opened. Who gives that away? A fucker, that's who. So I snapped them up and now use them to hold the pewter candle holder I also bought that day for $1.00.

So I finally brought this table over from Marlo and Clint's basement

I found it in some ghetto re-sale shop in Florissant for $3. Some paint and it's adorable! I set it up next to my couch and placed some random pictures and candles on it.

I made that coaster with a tile and some scrap book paper. I have another on my living room window sill

I needed something to fill an empty corner of my living room and thought this would do nicely

I store extra notepads and cards in the train case and DVDs in the suit cases.

My last thing to show is this little stroke of genius.

I bought this for $3.00 and sat on it for months not knowing if I would paint it or what. Finally I just hung it up next to my door. When I come in I hang my keys and purse on it. The inside holds stuff I need to mail out ( Netflix). Back soon with Nashville pics!

Home Tour

2011-05-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

You may want to get a snack, this is going to be very long. I'm tired of blogging about my life. It's not that interesting any more since work took over. Let me tell you what happens now. I go to work, come home exhausted and fall into bed after making sure Izzy is still alive. I wake up about an hour before it's time to go back to work and check face book. On my off days I do stuff with friends or have a date. See? Not that interesting.

My big hobby right now is working on my house. I am going to be here for a few years and I want this to look like a home rather than a series of empty rooms and a bed. I will be transferring to the ER ( hopefully) soon and moving to 12 hour days which will free up a lot more time.

I don't really have a look I am going for, I just buy stuff I like and force it to work. Last year I discovered thrift stores and now regularly scour them with Marlo. I have found so much awesome stuff there. I have to be careful to only buy things that are useful and not just drag home anything that catches my eye. It helps having Mar along who is not afraid to make a disapproving beaver face and say " what are you going to do with that?". If I cannot come up with an answer then it does not come home.

I think I have done a lot with my place so far. Furniture buying has been a challenge. I look for pieces that are unique and imperfect. I want imperfect because I want to refinish them and make them my own. I had a very good stroke of luck the day I went out to buy a (new) couch. I decided to stop at my favorite thrift store first since I was out that way. I was not there for a couch but I saw a brand new one for $100. The shop keep told me they would deliver to me all the way out in the city for only $25. I continued to look around the store and found a mid-century federal style bed for $25. It was painted navy and had seen better days. I added it to the pile and also brought home a 1940s Napanee cabinet. The Napanee cabinet is painted an array of garish colors and the enamel top has had recipes and old food ads mod podged to the top.

There were two problems with the couch. The fabric is rather ugly. It's an abstract print and not my taste at all. The second and more pressing problem was that the legs were tall, chunky things and 2 were broken. I priced legs online and new ones would have cost almost as much as the couch. Ebay came through though with tapered cherry legs. They are very mid- century modern and totally change the look of the couch.

The bed was such an easy fix. I sanded it lightly and gave it two coats of Rustolium's "heirloom white". I think it's adorable now! I love it even if it's not a piece I want to have in my room forever.

The Napanee cabineet is almost beyond my limited restoring capabilities. I can paint it and I will but the top vexes me. I sanded a small spot for a good long while and with much strength but whatever they shellacked with is very strong. I think I am going to have to resort to actual paint stripper. This should take it down to bare metal and then I can go over the top with appliance paint to refinish it. That's the plan anyway. So, let's get on with this tour shall we?

The Living Room:

This is the couch. I am happy with how the new legs have changed the look. I am not happy with it being the only thing in my living room. I do have all my knick knacks and such sitting out on my recessed window sills

Window above and to the right of the couch

Window above and to the left of the couch

Big windows in living room

Above the couch

Close up of he saying. This was stupid expensive but so perfectly sums up my love for Sam and Izzy. I LOVE how adorable their pictures look under it.

I have two ledges framing the door way between the living room and middle room. One is a catch all for my daily junk. The other I use to display some of my pretties

Catch all shelf. The valet was $1.50 at a thrift store. I use it to hold my keys and badge as well as to display some of my favorite stamps.. I love the tiny silver cream and sugar set. I paid $1.35 at a thrift and they are now candle holders.

Other ledge. I love the tray. It's a mirrored tray from the 50s but at some point someone painted it cream and wove a blue ribbon through it. Those improvements are even old now. I love the effect. I have a vintage tea cup full of my alphabet stamps, some coasters I made, my beloved St Louis paper weight and a tiny silver box holding my smashed pennies on it. Behind it I have my guest book which I insist everyone who enters sign. My grandparents had one in their entry and it was fun to see 20 years worth of guests recorded in the book. Everything on the ledge (save for the paper weight) is from a thrift and nothing cost more than $5.00 (except the paper weight).

The Kitchen:

Not much going on in here.

The Napanee cabinet. See that enamel bowl? $1 at a thrift by my house. I just saw a guy asking $95 for one at a flea market last week. Dumbasss. My utensil holder is part of a canister set. The lid was gone and I saw none of the other canisters but for $2.39 I think it looks very cute. For now I am covering the top of the cabinet with a flour sack towel.

This chalk board hangs on the nook I call my dining room. It was such a frustrating project. The picture started out as a $3 fruit still life at a thrift. I threw the picture out but the problem is the glass was held in by 100 staples that would not come out. So I painted the frame Heirloom White, I painted the glass brown chalk board and the edges looked so sucky! I tried taping off but there was still bleed through. In frustration I edged it with a few pieces of grosgrain till I can come to a better solution.

The Bedroom:

The bed! I love my bedroom even though I rarely get to enjoy it. The colors kind of just evolved out of what I had on hand. I used cream, grey, pale yellow and aqua. The bed ws $25 plus one can of spray paint. The bed spread was on clearance for $20, the high thread count sheets were on sale for $15 (marked down from $60) and the linen bed skirt was $11 marked down from $40.

My initials, a birthday gift (from me) last year

Window to the left of the bed. The hat boxes were 75% off and are very functional. The retro clock was $1 at a thrift

Window to the right of the bed. I have always wanted a fan like that, it was an impulse " I work really hard and deserve a nice thing" buy.

Shelf to the right of the bed. I am SO proud of this set up. Total cost? $1. The shelf started out looking like this:

I bought it at a thrift near my house and added two coats of a free sample of valspar in kind of a grey color. The picture frames were $1 each from target, the little scrapbooks were $1 each and are filled with pictures of my babies. The silver box holds Sam and Chloe's ashes.

So, that's it so far. I left out pictures of my middle room. It's empty for the most part. I hope to get started on it this weekend and do a full on quirky/pee wee's play house thing with it.

Crafty Panda

2011-03-29T03:31:00.000-07:00

I'm 30. It's time to start making crafts and filling my home with them. Maybe I will start giving them as gifts and hear people say " oh how nice" and then shoot their spouse a withering look that says " now we have to display this fucking thing". Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. For now, feast your eyes upon my wreath.

It was a nasty, snowy March day in St Louis.

Mar and I had been shopping and I bought many fun things at Joann. I decided to come home and get to work.

The wreath itself is simple. It's just a wreath form, wrapped in jute twine with some felt rosettes attached. It took a few hours to wrap the form but a few Louis CK comedy specials on Netflix kept me company.

Almost there...not really.

There we go!

So, I was nervous that I would not be able to make the flowers. I am not good at following diagrams but it was easy. The problem here is that I got so wrapped up in making them that I did not take pictures of each step. Making them was so soothing I could have done it all night. When I told this to Clint he told me I had just had myself some art therapy ( something I had mocked the day before when I found out my health insurance covers it). I told him I had done no such thing and to shut his stupid face.

Anyway, making the roses is simple. Look it up online if you are that interested.

A few finished ones. I got to bust out my new glue gun for this

All done! I hung it by my stained glass window. I would like to either make a bigger one for my door or attach some black ribbon and hang this one.

Close up of my roses.

I start 3rds at the hospital tomorrow night and now I will be spending vast amounts of time awake in the middle of the night with nothing to do but make handy-crafts so I guess you can look forward to a lot more of these posts in the future.

Product Panda

2010-08-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have loved product since I was 5 and used to wear my mom's bright blue Mary Kay eye shadow around the house. Anyone that has been in my bedroom can attest to the incredible amount of makeup, perfume, lotion, shampoo and tools I have scattered around. I have been home sick today ( my yearly strep/ear infection) and reading a lot of make up blogs. I wish I had the kind of time these girls do to devote to talking about eye shadow. Seriously, I'm not being snarky, I want to spend my days debating Sephora vs Ulta ( Sephora, duh). As a busy career panda though I had to work my daily routine down to 15 products that consistently make me look young and not tired.

Mary Kay Acne Treatment Gel $7 Marykay.com
I never had acne as a teenager but as a 30 year old I seem to be getting little flare ups every month. The 5% benzoyle Peroxide seems to be the key here. I can get higher concentrations but they dry my skin out, any lower and they don't work.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation $14 Target
I don't even remember the foundations I have been wearing the past 15 years. I found this stuff a few months ago and love it. Good coverage and a little bit of shimmer.

Hard Candy Color Correction Palate $8 walmart.com
This got terrible reviews on Makeupally.com and I don't know why. I bought the medium and use the two lighter shades on my eyes and any blemishes and then use the green to kill any redness. I don't have much use for the yellow or pink but if I ever get a black eye I will be sure to use them.

Sonia Kashuk Makeup Sponge $10 Target.com
You are probably thinking I am stupid for paying $10 for one sponge. Well, you can suck it. This thing is worth the $10. It is super dense and spreads liquid make up around evenly without absorbing a ton of product. It lasts about a year too.

Victoria's Secret Eyeliner in Exotic Plum $12 Victoriassecret.com
As someone with green-ish eyes I can get away with purple eyeliner. So I do! I wear this almost every day. It's not a garish purple, but really dark, almost black.

Bare Escentuals eye shadow in 2000 $13 Sephora.com
I just used up the last of this. It lasted about 3 years with 4x per week wear. I wear it almost every day in the winter and on special occasions in the summer. It's a bright, shiny blue-ish silver. If I keep layering it I can make it all drag queen or just do one layer and be kind of subtle. I normally go for drag queen.

Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara $15 Sephora.com
The next best thing to Dior Show.

Shu Umera Eye Lash Curler $20 Sephora.com
fits my eye shape and makes a tight curl. Far superior to any drugstore model. Lasts about 4 years with daily use.

Aquaphor $11 Target
Lips and cuticles every night.

Victoria's Secret Heavenly Perfume. $53 Victoriassecret.com
If I were a guy this stuff would make me hard. I bought my first bottle at 20 and everyone loves it. I wear the body spray at work and get a lot of compliments

Bath and Body Works Body Lotion in Pear Berry and Cherry Blossom $10 BBW.com
Cherry Blossom is the bed time stuff. I have no idea why since the only thing I sleep with is Izzy but she seems to appreciate it. I have been wearing Pear Berry since I was 19 and the smell makes me think of Schneider Hall. I carry a bottle of the spray in my work bag and end up wearing it most days. My boss even stopped me one day to tell me how good my hair smelled. I wish this stuff could land me a date like it did back in the day.

Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel $38 Ulta.com
Retarded expensive but awesome. Its a gel but kind of oily. I don't have to use make up remover with this either. I buy it on ebay for less than half the list price. If you want to be all straight and narrow though Ulta has it.

Dermalogica Active Moist $45 Ulta.com
Also but from ebay.com. Really good stuff for people with dry skin. This will be the thing that makes me age well. Seriously.

Nars Lip Gloss in Orgasm $20 Sephora.com

This gets almost daily wear from me. I am trying to conserve the last of " Chase The Moon" so I had to switch it up. It's very shimmery and peachy and gold. Good with a slight tan and work appropriate

No longer Chasing the Moon.

2010-07-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

I have an unreasonable devotion to a certain lip gloss. I bought my first tube at 19 and I have never been on a date when I did not wear this color. It is the perfect shade of mauve. Not too brown, perfect consistency, just the right amount of color. I went through multiple tubes of it in the past 11 years. I have always carried it in my purse and I am wearing it in the last three drivers license pictures. The problem? The bastards at Origins discontinued it in 2004. I used up my last tube then started buying tubes off ebay. As the years have gone by though the stock gets older and the consistency is off. A "new" box found in a cosmetics store online just arrived today. You can tell it's never been used but it has a weird, bacteria-y smell. I think after this tube I am out. This last package will last about a year then I am going to be without Chase The Moon for the first time in my adult life.

The search for a suitable replacement has already started. I found a very similar one at Victoria's Secret and keep it in my work bag. It has just a little too much glitter. How the hell am I supposed to find another man without Chase The Moon? Fuck you, Origins. If I end up dying alone with a bunch of cats it's because I could not attract a new man without your lip gloss.